FlightPath

FlightPath is a navigation aid of a different sort. Instead of displaying direction and heading with arrows - whether that be the top-down style in the minimap, or the GPS style commonly seen in other addons, FlightPath shows this information in a HUD-style "tape" compass, with heading and waypoint indicators.

Currently, in this proof-of-concept phase, FlightPath does not make use of any commands or options, and will automatically pick up and display any changes in the "active" quest (i.e. the quest location the yellow minimap arrow is pointing to). However, as development continues - plans include the ability to add custom (ordered) routes, as well as individual points, command support, and options such as size, color, and position.

Requests and feedback are always welcome, and will always be seriously considered. However, this does not necessarily mean that every suggestion will be implemented. It does generally mean that as long as it a) is possible, and b), fits within the design goal, that it will most likely will be implemented.

Of course, while not quite as eagerly anticipated, bug reports are welcome as well - and will be addressed as time permits. In this case, any information you can give about the situation where the bug occurred, as well as the error message, will speed this process up considerably. Remember, unless I can recreate it, it's exceptionally hard to fix.

General Use

The design and function of this addon is based on the navigation method used in many military fighter jet HUDs, and might be slightly confusing to those who have never used one. The main UI of FlightPath is a "tape" style compass, with small hash marks every 5 degrees, and numbered, large hash marks every 10. The compass will always "scroll" so that your current heading is centered horizontally on your screen - with a caret (^) pointing to that exact location.

Once you enter a continent (Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, etc) where you have a quest, and the yellow quest arrow shows up on your minimap, you'll also notice a diamond (♢) appearing below the compass. This symbol denotes the direction to the current "active" quest (or eventually, custom point), and traveling to that point is as simple as lining up the caret with the diamond and going forward.

One final word of warning - since it's literally impossible to match the direction to your point exactly, you will notice that diamond starting to "drift" as you move along, and do so quicker and to a greater degree the closer you get to that point. This *is* normal, and it's no different when using the real thing. Just in case you find yourself becoming obsessed with caret-diamond matching, it's not necessary to do so - as long as you keep that diamond somewhere where it's completely visible, you'll get there with at least the same precision as following any arrow.

Known Issues

FlightPath will display an inaccurate direction when inside some interior areas - such as the main gathering hubs in Pandaria (Shrine of Two Moons/Shrine of Seven Stars), but will correct itself when the player goes outside. The exact cause for this is currently unknown, but is being investigated.

v0.11 - Minor stability improvements

Most of the event handling code has been rewritten, so that FlightPath will work more reliably with the map and the quest tracker, without errors. This does mean however, that you may have to close the map for it to update.

I believe that the Shrines and some other Pandaria interiors are implemented with Blizzard's new "minidungeon" functionality. (Reference: comments about the Carbonite maps registering inaccurate locations in a similar fashion.) I don't know much of anything more than that, but I hope it helps.

First off, thanks to both of you for the feedback, I'm glad it caught your interest

I believe that the Shrines and some other Pandaria interiors are implemented with Blizzard's new "minidungeon" functionality. (Reference: comments about the Carbonite maps registering inaccurate locations in a similar fashion.) I don't know much of anything more than that, but I hope it helps.

That's pretty much what I was thinking - due to the lack of actual errors, and the fact that it fixes itself as soon as I step outside. I'll have to check to see if there's a Astrolabe update that addresses that before I release the next update on mine.

That being said - the next update isn't going to be anything very impressive on the outside - the custom routes/points are still planned, but the first priority is to get FlightPath's core functionality bug-free. Thankfully - so far so good, although - I'm noticing the same direction issue inside of Orgrimmar as well.

Finally - out of curiosity, since most of the UI for FlightPath was done off a single reference image, combined with my own memory, I decided to download a copy of the Falcon 4.0 game manual (579 pages!) - and while I don't have the symbolism exactly right - For the sake of simplicity, and the fact that actual altitude isn't visible to the API, I'm probably not going to go for a recreation. That being said, information such as speed (horizontal, not true) , digital heading, estimated time to target and ETA will likely appear in some fashion - likely via transparent, positionable panels.

Been a little busy with other WoW-related stuff, including actually playing the game - so unfortunately, I haven't been able to add any features yet.

That being said, since the initial release, I did have the opportunity to make the quest tracker/map handling a lot more stable. Since these improvements have resulted in absolutely zero errors and zero bugs for me (for 2 months of play), I figured it would be better to just upload this - as is, than wait until I actually get around to adding more features.